The invention relates to a stimulation system, such as a sacral nerve stimulation system, having a tool for programming an electrical stimulation generator, such as an implantable pulse generator (IPG), of the system.
A sacral nerve stimulator is a device used to provide electrical stimulation to the pelvic region of a patient, for example the sacral nerve or the pudendal nerve, in order to treat problems such as incontinence. The stimulator includes an implanted or external pulse generator and an implanted stimulation lead having one or more electrodes at a distal location thereof. The pulse generator provides the stimulation through the electrodes via a body portion and connector of the lead. Stimulation programming in general refers to the configuring of stimulation electrodes and stimulation parameters to treat the patient using one or more implanted leads and its attached IPG. For example, the programming is typically achieved by selecting individual electrodes and adjusting the stimulation parameters, such as the shape of the stimulation waveform, amplitude of current in mA (or amplitude of voltage in V), pulse width in microseconds, frequency in Hz, and anodic or cathodic stimulation.
Despite recent advances in medical technology, the existing sacral nerve stimulation methods, systems, and devices still have various shortcomings. For example, they may be expensive to carry out and may require too much clinician involvement. As another example, it may be difficult to know how well a stimulation lead is implanted. As another example, conventional sacral nerve stimulation systems typically require a one-to-one correspondence between stimulation channels and electrode contacts, which may be expensive and cumbersome to handle.
Therefore, although existing sacral nerve stimulators are generally adequate for their intended purposes, they have not been satisfactory in all respects.